That's Your Punishment?
by slytherclaw7
Summary: What if Harry had reacted a little differently when he heard that Ron and the twins were being punished by de-gnoming in Chamber of Secrets? How would Mrs Weasley (and the rest of the Wizarding World) react when Harry's past starts to unravel? [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks so much to intotheyellowwoods for being an awesome beta!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.**

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Excerpt from Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 3

 _"Blimey, I'm tired," yawned Fred, setting down his knife and fork at last. "I think I'll go to bed and -"_

 _"You will not," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again -"_

 _"Oh, Mum -"_

 _"And you two," she said, glaring at Ron and Fred. "You can go up to bed, dear," she added to Harry. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car -"_

"Sorry, but what exactly is de-gnoming?" Harry interrupted. Even though he had been in the magical world for a year, he was still new to many household activities.

"I still can't believe you live in the Muggle world!" Ron exclaimed. "Gnomes are pesky little buggers that live in our garden. Their heads look like potatoes, nothing like the garden gnomes Muggles have. We need to swing them over our heads and throw them over the hedge to clear our garden, basically. It's terribly annoying – "

"Wait, your punishment is to throw things over the hedge?" Harry could not hold back his shock. Throwing things sounds fun, not cruel, grueling, or extremely painful like all his punishments at the Dursleys were. "That sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Er, well sure it's a bit fun –"

"But it gets tiring after a while – "

"Which is why you should never do de-gnoming, Harry."

"But… but…" Harry stammered, "how is that a punishment? You get to throw things! That's the easiest punishment ever!"

Ron laughed. "Easy? We haven't had such a harsh punishment since the twins cursed Ginny's dolls to say bad words when she was six! We usually just do the dishes or clean the shed or something."

Harry gaped. "You mean you never have to cook for the entire family?"

"Of course not, that's Mum's job!"

"You never need to scrub the toilets, or mow the lawn, or clean the kitchen, or-"

"No!"

"You mean… you mean you're never locked in a cupboard for three days without food or light? Or beaten by a belt? Anything?"

"Of course not!" Ron exclaimed. "Who would give any of that as a punishment to a kid?"

"Wow," Harry breathed out, "you have the best family ever."

Three sets of eyebrows rose. Whatever Harry's response could have been, Ron, Fred, and George certainly didn't expect this. The Potters were wealthy, while their family could barely hold themselves together – how could the Weasleys possibly be "the best family ever"?

Mrs. Weasley gasped in horror. "Surely… you don't mean… you suffered those punishments before?"

"Well…" Harry really regretted asking all these questions now. He didn't want to talk about his home life, but he was the one who brought up all these specific scenarios. "My relatives punish me all the time. They need to keep coming up with ideas, don't they?"

"We already told you, Mum, that his uncle put bars on his window- "

"A cat flap on his door-"

"Locked his trunk and books in a cupboard"

"But you didn't believe us did you-"

Mrs. Weasley burst into tears. "Oh, Harry!" She wrapped her arms around Harry, enveloping him in a tight embrace.

Harry's eyes widened. He was being squeezed to the brink of choking, yet he enjoyed this sensation. This is what a hug feels like, he thought.

Mrs. Weasley released him from her iron grip. "I'm going to write to Dumbledore. Don't know what that man is thinking. Letting a child be a house-elf in a Muggle household, the Boy-Who-Lived no less! I don't care that he's the Headmaster, you're just a boy!" Mrs. Weasley muttered furiously, dashing out of the room to find Howler parchment.

Fred looked around the room. "Do you think – "

"We still need to –"

"De-gnome the garden?"

Ron shrugged, a wide grin spreading on his face. "Harry, you got us out of our worst punishment! We owe you one."

Harry shook his head. "If your mom can get me out of any punishment at the Dursleys, I'll definitely owe you guys one!"

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 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review. Thank you, and have a good day~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again, thank you so much to my incredible beta intotheyellowwoods! Definitely go check out her work.**

 **Author's Note:** I was not planning to turn the story beyond a oneshot, but due to your reviews I have decided to make it into a longer fic. Hope you enjoy this and please review!

 **Author's Note Jan 11:** Updated this chapter so there are no logical inconsistencies within the story. Huge shoutout to DukeBrymin for pointing this out!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

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It was a pleasant day for Harry. Not only had he been rescued from the torturous house of the Dursleys, he could spend the rest of the summer with his best mate's family _and_ eat real food daily.

However, it was not a pleasant day for the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Upon hearing unsettling rumors of certain events that had happened before the End of Year feast at Hogwarts from her niece, Amelia Bones strode down to Dumbledore's office demanding a thorough investigation of Hogwarts. Dumbledore had no choice but to accede to her demands - since the Ministry provided the tuition for all Hogwarts students, the Ministry had the power to routinely check on Hogwarts. Plus, upsetting the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement would do no good for him, his career, or the school. Oh well, he'd better spin up a cover story quickly - he was quite skilled at doing so anyway.

"Good morning, Amelia," Dumbledore greeted the stern lady sitting across him, "How may I help you today?"

"I would say the same to you, Albus, but I fear it won't be a good morning for you today," Amelia replied curtly, "I am here on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to implement our routine check on the Hogwarts castle and faculty and to investigate recent events."

Dumbledore started to worry - Amelia Bones was not a woman to be messed with. After all, she was one of the few women in recent history to climb to the top of the Ministry ladder. Her niece, as a first year, would of course have blabbed every rumor that has circulated the school after the Quirrell incident to her stringent aunt. If it had been any other Ministry official, he could have probably pulled one of his usual tricks and gotten away with it. But now, he must tread on careful territory.

"Of course, Amelia," Dumbledore responded politely, "where would you like to start?"

"I'll first ask you a few questions about recent incidents this past school year, including the disappearance of Professor Quirinus Quirrell, the cursed broomstick of Harry Potter in his first Quidditch game, the events of a mysterious evening beneath a trapdoor that led to Gryffindor winning 170 points at once, the appearance of a troll in the school on Halloween, the – " Amelia paused as she glanced towards the chimney. "Is that a howler in your fireplace?"

Dumbledore chuckled as he pulled out his wand to levitate the flaming, red envelope out of the fireplace and toward his desk. "Ah, yes – every once in a while a parent would send me a Howler lamenting the injustices of Hogwarts – quite inevitable, unfortunately. All letters are screened through my ward and all Howlers' are less resonant than usual."

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. "I think you should open it soon, Albus, or else it would explode," she remarked.

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes twinkling as he casually flicked his wand to open the envelope. Hopefully this would greatly distract the Ministry's investigation of Hogwarts for a while. Perhaps Amelia could sympathize with him to see how stressful and demanding his job could be as well.

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!" Molly Weasley's voice screeched as both Amelia and Dumbledore covered their ears with their hands on instinct. If the loudness of this Howler was already reduced greatly, Amelia could not bear to imagine how deafening her Howler would normally sound.

"HOW DARE YOU LET HARRY LIVE WITH ABUSIVE MUGGLES ALL THESE YEARS! HE'S THIN AS A STICK, AND HIS CLOTHES ARE TEN TIMES TOO LARGE! YOU'VE TOLD US FOR THE LAST DECADE THAT HE'S PERFECTLY SAFE WITH HIS MUGGLE RELATIVES – BUT HE'S BEEN TREATED LIKE A HOUSE-ELF HIS WHOLE LIFE! LIKELY WORSE THAN ONE!"

Dumbledore's face paled at each subsequent sentence Molly hollered out. Amelia got over her initial shock and begun to take notes of what Molly was shouting.

"HE'S BEEN BEATEN, STARVED, AND LOCKED IN A CUPBOARD! HE'S BEEN FORCED TO COOK FOR HIS RELATIVES AND SCRUB THEIR TOILETS REGULARLY! HIS ROOM HAS BARS ON THE WINDOW AND A CAT FLAP ON THE DOOR! THIS IS NOT THE LIVING CONDITIONS FOR ANY CHILD, MUCH LESS THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED!"

"HARRY WILL BE LIVING WITH US FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER – I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, HE WILL NEVER BE RETURNING TO THAT PLACE! _NEVER!_ "

Amelia slammed down her notes and clipboard on Dumbledore's desk. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, Albus?"

Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly. It was going to be a long day. A very, very long day.

* * *

 _The-Boy-Who-Lived No Longer Living With Muggles!_

 _In a unforeseen turn of events, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has removed Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived and a rising second year student at Hogwarts, from living with his Muggle relatives._

 _"_ _After a thorough investigation of Mr Potter's home life, we have deemed it unfit for Mr Potter to continue living with his Muggle relatives," the Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, stated, "Mr Potter will be temporarily staying with the Weasley family, which includes his best friend and housemates, throughout this summer. His custody will be resolved by the end of the upcoming school year."_

 _As the Chief Warlock at the time when You-Know-Who was defeated, Mr Dumbledore was the primary figure in executing the late Potters' wills and placing Mr Potter in a suitable household. It was revealed today that instead of executing the Potters' last wishes, he sealed their will and placed Mr Potter at his Aunt's household at his own discretion. The late Potters' will will be unsealed in the near future and executed correctly under the guidance of the Ministry._

 _We at the Daily Prophet do not know why Mr Potter was moved into the magical world, but we do agree it is a move that should have occurred long ago. We wish Mr Potter happiness in his new home life._

 _Author: Dana Litherstone_

Mr Weasley set his paper down upon finishing reading aloud that day's article. His eyes rolled over to his left, where Ron and Harry beamed at him. Across the table, Fred and George started jumping up and down while simultaneously hugging Harry and Ron, though with their vigor they were likely choking the young second years.

"You're officially stuck with us now, Harrikins!" George cheered.

Harry didn't think his smile could grow any wider. "Mrs Weasley, thank you for sending that note to Dumbledore. None of this could have happened without you. And I really owe you a lot now. This is truly a dream come true for me!"

Mrs Weasley set down the plates she was holding and hugged Harry. "No child I have met should dare to live in such a setting! I'm glad you're with us now. At least you'll be fed properly."

Ron also added his thought. "And to think that this all happened because you couldn't believe that de-gnoming was a real punishment!"

Mrs Weasley turned to Ron, Fred, and George. "That's right, you three had to de-gnome the garden." The twins glared at Ron while Ron's face paled. "I want to see the garden completely clean by noon today, and don't you dare escape a punishment again!"

"But that's not a real punishment…" Harry murmured.

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 **Author's Note** : This story is not canon compliant. Also, this story was not intended to bash Dumbledore, but to point out his faults in his caring/management of Harry. Dumbledore's a great, wise figure, but some decisions he made in the books made me scratch my head.

Thanks for reading this story! I never expected so many to read and like this. Please read my newest story and/or review! Thank you so much!

 **Next chapter** : Molly overhears something, Harry receives a letter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note** : Wow, over 1700 views! Thank you so much for your support! I have planned out the entire fic, finally, so hopefully the rest of the fic is more coherent.

 **Update:** Updated this chapter so there are no logical inconsistencies within the story. Huge shoutout to DukeBrymin for pointing this out!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

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"That was awesome!" Ron exclaimed as he opened the door of the broom shed. "Thanks for letting me use your broom, Harry!"

Four ecstatic boys with flushed cheeks lightly tossed their brooms into the shed.

"If only the entire Gryffindor team – "

"- had a Nimbus 2000 – "

"- we'd be unbeatable!" the twins chorused together.

Harry grinned. This summer was turning out to be easily the best summer of his life. He was surrounded by friends, he was in a magical household, he had enough food to eat, and - best of all – no Dursleys.

"Dinner time!" Mrs Weasley shouted from the kitchen entryway. "And don't get that mud in the house!"

Harry furrowed his brows in concern. He didn't want to make Mrs Weasley mad if he got the floor dirty. He was a guest after all – an uninvited guest as well.

Ron seemed to read Harry's thoughts. "Don't worry, she's going to yell at us even if we don't get mud in the house," Ron assured Harry, "Mum's mental, but she's Mum, so what do you expect?"

"I heard that, Ronald Weasley!" a loud voice reverberated from the kitchen. "And Harry dear, there's a letter for you from Hermione on the kitchen table!"

"Hermione's sent you a letter? She's probably going to berate you for not starting your summer homework yet!" Ron exclaimed. "How did you reply to her first letter when she asked you about your potions essay?"

"I didn't get her letter – " Harry paused, unsure of how to explain Dobby's incident to Ron. "I didn't receive any mail while I was at the Dursleys-"

"No wonder you never replied to my mail!" Ron interrupted, bewildered. "I sent you at least 3 letters inviting you to stay with us this summer, and a Chudley Cannons birthday magazine as well!"

"Well, a weird house elf called Dobby appeared in my room one night and warned me that I must not return to Hogwarts this year. Something about there being dangerous this year – as if it wasn't last year," Harry scoffed, "and Dobby had seized all my mail so I wouldn't have anyone from Hogwarts to contact."

"Someone else's house elf just popped into your house? And took all your mail? How odd!" Ron remarked, "You should tell Dad. I'm pretty sure it's illegal for a house elf to do that. Maybe he can sort it out at the Ministry."

Harry hesitated. He was already intruding on the Weasley family by staying here for the whole summer. He didn't want to cause more trouble with Mr Weasley with some minor house elf incident. "I don't know – I don't want your Dad to get into trouble at the Ministry. Maybe I'll just tell him about Dobby using magic, trying to get me into trouble – he made Aunt Petunia's cake fall on a guest's head. And the guest was Uncle Vernon's business partner as well – I did get into a lot of trouble. That's how I got the bars on my window and the locks on my door."

As Ron and Harry trickled into the kitchen to retrieve Hermione's letter, Mrs Weasley pretended to diligently stir the stew, even though the stew was already perfect. She couldn't help but ponder over what she had just overheard. The poor boy got locked in his room like a prisoner for something he didn't even do! And how casually Harry just tossed aside the warning about danger – he was only twelve, for Merlin's sake! He shouldn't have the mentality of being used to danger! Especially at a magical school!

I'm glad I sent the Howler to Dumbledore, Mrs Weasley thought, but I need to tell Arthur about the danger warnings if Harry isn't going to. Warnings from a random house elf, no less!

"Dad, how long will Harry be staying with us?" Fred asked during dinner.

"Yeah Dad, can he be with us forever? An honorary Weasley, right Harrikins?" George echoed.

Mr Weasley sighed. "I'm not sure, actually," he responded truthfully, "We'd all like Harry to stay with us forever, don't we? But this case actually has the entire Ministry tangled up in knots. Which reminds me –"

"Why would be the entire Ministry be involved?" Percy, the ever-aspiring politician, inquired. "The Prophet said that only the DMLE is involved."

Mrs Weasley frowned. "Percy, you know better than to interrupt your father!" she berated, "And Harry, you need to eat more! You can't possibly be full from having half a serving!"

Harry smiled weakly. Truth be told, he felt bloated – Mrs Weasley had already shoveled a stew portion five times larger than his usual daily portion while he was at the Dursleys – and this was only one meal!

"As I was saying, though," Mr Weasley continued, "This reminds me – Harry, you need to go to the Ministry in three days for the reading of your parents' wills. I will accompany you to the Ministry."

The excited buzz at the dinner table immediately simmered down at the mention of this somber topic.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley," Harry said, breaking the silence. "I – May I be excused?"

Mrs Weasley nodded, and Harry bolted from the dining table to Ron's room. None of the Weasley children could imagine what he was feeling right now. How would a child, barely twelve years old, feel when he is told that he would be witnessing the reading of his parents' wills? Harry has always known that his parents were dead, but hearing his parents' final wishes truly seals the reality of his parents' deaths.

Ron gently knocked three times on the door to his own room. "How odd," he muttered to himself, "needing to knock on your own door."

A soft "Come in!" led Ron to push open the door to his orange paradise. Harry was sitting on his bed, carefully thumbing over his precious album that had photos of his parents.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked. He was never one for subtlety, after all.

Harry nodded. "I'm fine. I guess – I guess I never thought about my parents having last wishes. They prepared their wills at such a young age – they knew there was a large chance they were going to die."

Ron, always one for believing that being the Boy-Who-Lived was full of fame and glory, never considered this point of view. How would he like to live without his parents, without his family, and knowing that his parents died for him, knowing that they had a high chance of dying as well?

Ron shook his head. Thinking just didn't suit him. Trying a different tactic, he attempted to divert Harry's attention. "Did you open Hermione's letter yet? What did she say?"

Immediately, Harry's face lit up. "I completely forgot! I picked up her letter but I didn't get a chance to read it before dinner…" he scrambled around the pile of books and clothes on the area next to his bed. "Aha! Here it is!"

"Well, open it already!"

"Alright, alright!" Harry finally tore open the envelope, carefully removing the letter from the envelope. Ron also leaped onto Harry's bed, peering over Harry's shoulder.

A neat, cursive script familiar to both boys filled the page.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Why haven't you replied the two letters I sent you? Are your aunt and uncle treating you well this summer? If anything goes wrong you must tell Professor Dumbledore, he'll definitely help you out._

 _Speaking of Professor Dumbledore, I don't know how much access you have to the Daily Prophet since you're living with Muggles right now, but the Daily Prophet has been spouting ridiculous lies about you and Professor Dumbledore lately. How dare they claim that Professor Dumbledore has been obstructing justice by sealing your parents' wills? He's the greatest wizard of our time! It can't be true that he sealed your parents' wills, right? And you never mentioned to me that your relatives abused you (or how else would the Dursleys be deemed 'unfit'?) – the Ministry must be lying about that too. In case you don't have access to the Prophet, I've attached a recent article on you supposedly being removed from the Dursleys and the Prophet blaming Professor Dumbledore._

 _Since you never responded, I'll ask again – how did you answer the Potions essay? Have you figured out the movement theory behind the twenty charms Professor Flitwick assigned us to research yet? I hope you're better than Ron and that you've at least started your summer homework._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Hermione_

Inside the envelope, a newspaper clipping of _The-Boy-Who-Lived No Longer Living With Muggles_ was included. Harry clenched his fists in rage – how could Hermione just easily dismiss the truth as a bunch of lies? Just because Dumbledore was powerful and famous?

"Typical Hermione! Always prattling on about homework," Ron remarked.

Harry turned to him in shock. Did Ron completely miss the main point of the letter? How could both of his friends be so blind, in completely different ways?

"I can't believe she just thinks everything is a load of tosh!" Harry fumed. "She knew that I hated living with the Dursleys, but she can't see that they abused me? And she doesn't believe the Ministry's words at all!"

Ron furrowed his brows in confusion. "I thought she was kidding! She takes everything in print as the words of Merlin… how could she not believe the _Daily Prophet_?"

Harry nodded. "And she wants me to dispute all this as well! Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time my arse! He condemned me to living with the Dursleys for over ten years and didn't carry out my parents' final wishes!"

Frowning, Harry folded up Hermione's letter and newspaper attachment and laid them on the floor. He had some serious thinking about how he should frame his response to Hermione.

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 **Author's Note** : I've always thought Hermione placed too much trust in authority... who knows what might result from this enormous blunder on Hermione's part? To Hermione fans, don't worry - this is not a Hermione bashing fic!

Thank you for reading this story! Sorry for the long wait - school just started. Please review! Reviews make me very happy :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much for your support! Really, really sorry for how long this update took...

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

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Numerous wizards donning dark robes bustled into the courtroom. Harry, sitting in the back, tried not to tremble in anxiety as Mr Weasley patted his shoulder in comfort. There were few faces Harry recognized – Madame Bones, Headmaster Dumbledore, and a few other Hogwarts professors.

"Order in the Wizengamot," Amelia Bones called. "Today we convene to unseal the will of James and Lily Potter. Due to the statute of limitations and the Potters being an Ancient and Noble House, this will be done in front of the entire Wizengamot and the will's beneficiaries. Tiberius Ogden will be replacing Albus Dumbledore as Chief Warlock for the day due to a conflict of interest –"

"Surely that isn't necessary, Amelia," Dumbledore interrupted, eyebrows furrowed. "My involvement with the Potters' will is very limited."

Harry sighed. Even though it was a moot point, Dumbledore still wanted to exert his influence. Did he not realize that his career might end after this will reading?

Amelia did not look pleased with Dumbledore's interruption. "Chief Warlock, you were named a witness of the will. You were also named the executor of the will. Instead, you sealed it days after the Potters' death. Out of all the individuals in this room, you have the most involvement with this."

"Now, no more objections or questions? Good. Mister Ogden, please take your seat as Chief Warlock and begin. Please remember to stay silent through both readings."

Tiberius took his seat and smoothed over his robes before proceeding. Taking one of the two documents laid in front of him, he began reading:

 _I, Lily Evans Potter, declare that this is my last will and testament. . I hereby revoke, annul, and cancel all wills and codicils previously made by me, either jointly or individually. I declare that I am of age to make this will, and that I am sound of mind. This last will expressed my wishes without undue influence or duress._

 _I hereby appoint Albus Dumbledore as Executor of this will. If this Executor is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as the alternate Executor._

 _To Alice Longbottom, I bequeath the Potter Greenhouse. I am sorry that Neville would not have a godmother, but I hope that his and Harry's lives would be much brighter and safer than ours._

 _To Severus Snape, I bequeath all our Potions notes from 5_ _th_ _year and before. We chose to walk down different paths, and there's nothing we can do about that. Nonetheless, your potions ability is still magnificent and I hope you can use our work to help the world._

 _To Horace Slughorn, I bequeath my Potions research papers and notes. Thank you for giving me so many opportunities and inspiring me to pursue mastery in Potions._

 _To Filius Flitwick, I bequeath my Charms notes. Thank you for encouraging me to pursue mastery in Charms, and even though I never did, I still made many notes of intriguing things I discovered._

 _Should both James and I be unable to raise Harry, we name the following individuals as possible candidates for raising Harry in order of preference: Sirius Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Ted and Andromeda Tonks, Minerva McGonagall, Edgar Bones, Pandora and Xenophilius Lovegood, and Molly and Arthur Weasley. In no circumstance should Harry be raised in a Muggle household – especially not of my sister's._

 _Here ends the Last Will and Testament of Lily Evans Potter._

 _Signed by the above named testator in our presence at the same time and each of us has in the presence of the testator signed hereunder as on attesting._

 _Witness: Albus Dumbledore_

 _Witness: Frank Longbottom_

 _Witness: Mugnok, as representing Gringotts_

* * *

Harry clenched his fists throughout the reading of his mother's will. His mother explicitly stated her wish for Harry to be raised in a magical household, and especially not the Dursleys! Dumbledore plainly ignored her final wishes. Had he not, Harry might have grown up in a happy household with one of the families his mum had listed. Hopefully, not all of his father's wishes were ignored either.

 _I, James Fleamont Potter, Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter, declare that this is my last will and testament. I hereby revoke, annul, and cancel all wills and codicils previously made by me, either jointly or individually. I declare that I am of age to make this will, and that I am sound of mind. This last will expressed my wishes without undue influence or duress._

 _I hereby appoint Albus Dumbledore as Executor of this will. If this Executor is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as the alternate Executor._

 _To Sirius Black, my brother in all but blood, I bequeath all of our Marauder handbooks and the 5 sickles you bet me that you would live longer than me. Please take good care of Harry and Lily for me. As Harry's godfather, you must raise him as a new Marauder._

 _To Remus Lupin, I bequeath 5000 galleons and my entire wardrobe. Leave Britain, go somewhere where there is less discrimination than Britain – so basically anywhere. You deserve much better. But I still expect you to teach Harry how to be a Marauder who never gets caught – you're the expert on that, after all._

 _To Peter Pettigrew, I bequeath 3000 galleons on one condition – that you did not betray our family as our Secret Keeper. You've always been a quiet Marauder, but grow some confidence and you can do great things. If both Lily and I are dead though, I am really disappointed in you for betraying us; let the record be known that Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black, was the Secret Keeper of the Potter household._

 _To Frank Longbottom, I bequeath 1000 galleons and many apologies for how many times I accidentally blew up your bed in our dorm. I am sorry I will be unable to see my dear godson Neville grow up._

 _To Severus Snape, I bequeath the entire Potions section from the Potter Library. I am sorry for making your life a living hell in our Hogwarts years. I still don't like you, and I am sure you still don't like me, but the extent of my actions toward you was unreasonable._

 _To Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, I bequeath 2000 books of your selection from the Potter Library. I hope this is enough to pay back the amount of extra work you had to put in to deal with us for seven years. Albus, please return any belonging I have loaned you to the Potter account._

 _To my wife Lily and my son Harry, I bequeath the rest all of my assets, including all the Potter accounts and the Potter estates._

 _Here ends the Last Will and Testament of James Fleamont Potter._

 _Signed by the above named testator in our presence at the same time and each of us has in the presence of the testator signed hereunder as on attesting._

 _Witness: Albus Dumbledore_

 _Witness: Alice Longbottom_

 _Witness: Mugnok, as representing Gringotts_

When Chief Warlock Ogden concluded reading the second will, the Wizengamot emerged into an uproar.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : My first cliffhanger! This was very fun to write. I'm not familiar with proper court procedures and the format of a will, so please ignore any mistakes I could have made in either aspect.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look out very soon for the next one! I truly apologize for how long this update has been - twice my usual updating time. Break is coming up for me though, so I'll hopefully be able to update soon. Leave in the reviews how you think the Wizengamot will react!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I was so surprised to see the explosion of follows and reviews for Chapter 4! Thank you so much! You guys are the only reason why I am still writing. What started as a one-time trial is now continued to become a regular hobby :)

This is the least exciting and most scholarly chapter of _That's Your Punishment_ , in my opinion, so just bear with me for this one chapter! Also my longest chapter yet, which is why this took a while.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

"This is ridiculous! How could the wishes of the pureblood Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter just be blatantly disregarded like that?"

"Dumbledore placed The-Boy-Who-Lived right against his mother's will! He must be replaced!"

"I knew being the Headmaster for so long has made Dumbledore cuckoo - "

"SILENCE!" Tiberius commanded. "We must have order in the court. Anyone who wishes to speak must raise their wand and I shall permit you to speak."

"Mister Nott, you may now speak," Chief Warlock Ogden gestured towards to the elder Nott.

Nott stood up and bowed to Tiberius before commencing. "This has been a great tragedy of injustice. By Article 6, Act 73 of the Wizengamot Constitution, the Wizengamot can vote to oust the Chief Warlock in any situation where the Chief Warlock has obstructed justice. I propose to begin this vote. The most disrespectful thing a man can do is to ignore a woman's last wishes – and that this family was an Ancient and Noble House just exacerbates this situation!"

Lucius Malfoy stood up. "I second Mister Nott."

Tiberius nodded. "We have a seconded proposition to oust Chief Warlock Dumbledore. Before we proceed with this proposition, does anyone have any other comments? Madame Longbottom, you may now speak."

Augusta Longbottom rose to her feet, her green robes and feathered hat prominently shining amongst the sea of black robes. "Other than the issue of Chief Warlock Dumbledore committing a great act of injustice, I have concluded that we have three main issues here at stake that we need to resolve: the execution of the Potters' wills, the familial placement of Mister Potter, and the emergence of new evidence in regards to the Black-Pettigrew Trial."

Mutters quickly broke out in astonishment and outrage.

"Surely the Black-Pettigrew Case doesn't need to be reopened?" Cornelius Fudge shouted. "The case has been closed over ten years ago and Black was obviously guilty. He even admitted to his own guilt during his arrest!"

Tiberius shook his head at the blatant lack of following procedures the Minister demonstrated. "With all due respect, Minister, please wait to be acknowledged before speaking."

Tiberius paused as the court expectantly waited for the Minister's apology for not following procedures. None came, which just caused more Wizengamot members to shake their heads as well.

Seeing as how he was not going to receive an apology, Tiberius continued. "However, you do bring up an interesting point that we shall discuss later, Minister Fudge," Tiberius stated. "Madame Longbottom, thank you for succinct summary of our issues, which I agree with. Let us first resolve the issue of the execution of the Potters' wills. Since Headmaster Dumbledore was unable to execute these two wills in a _proper_ and _timely_ manner – "

At this statement, all heads turned towards where Albus sat in the court. He shrunk back in his seat, unused to the numerous withering glares he was receiving.

"- we shall respect the late Potters' wishes and allow the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to execute the will. Madame Bones, the floor is now yours."

Amelia stood up and bowed. "Thank you, Chief Warlock Ogden. The DMLE will make sure that all bequeathed assets and belongings are dealt with properly in the next couple weeks." Then, she turned to address Harry himself. "Mr Potter, you will receive the Potter accounts and estates that your father left to you when you turn the age of fifteen. For the next three years, they will be managed by your magical guardians – ah, but you don't have any. Which brings me to my next order of business."

"The late Madame Potter requested that should both her and her spouse be unable to raise Mr Potter, he shall go and live with a certain list of guardians she specified. The first two guardians – Sirius Black and the Longbottoms – are currently unable to take care of Mr Potter, so the responsibility would fall to the next family, the Tonks family. I will visit the Tonks tomorrow to see if they are willing to do so."

Amelia barely sat back down in her seat before Albus abruptly stood up and exclaimed, "No, Harry must stay with his aunt and uncle! He is much safer there!"

Harry frowned, wondering where Dumbledore was going with this. He had already lost so much power – was he trying to lose all the power he had left? With the whole wizarding world now aware of the plights of the Boy-Who-Lived, it would be impossible to just send Harry back to the torturous house of the Dursleys – or at least, that's what Harry hoped.

Amelia politely raised her wand, waiting to be granted permission to respond. Tiberius nodded at her, so she began to speak. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I do not understand how a Muggle household is safe for the Boy-Who-Lived at all. The house has no magical protections, and is just widely open to an enormous Muggle population out there! And these are not the only issues – let's not forget why the unsealing of the Potter wills came about, it's because we had just found out that Mr Potter had been abused for many years while living in the Dursley household! There is simply no reason, not even security reasons, to send Mr Potter back to his Muggle aunt and uncle's household!"

"The Dursleys are the only family members Harry still has who he shares blood with. This alone justifies the security concerns, Amelia!" Albus responded.

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. "Familial blood bonds do not factor into security concerns unless… Headmaster Dumbledore, did you establish blood wards on Number 4 Privet Drive?"

When Albus did not spit out an immediate denial, the courtroom erupted yet again.

"And they call him the wisest man in our world!" one angry Wizengamot member whispered to Minister Fudge. Cornelius, confused as always, nodded despite not understanding why everyone was so irate.

Over the angry mutters, Madame Longbottom shouted in disbelief, "Blood wards do not bode well with Muggles! If Muggles are exposed to blood wards for more than a year, they could possibly go insane and suffer long term mental consequences, especially in their household! There's a reason why it is illegal to use blood wards on Muggle households!"

Harry timidly raised his wand in court, to which Tiberius nodded and gave permission for him to speak. "That might explain why the Dursleys seemed to assign increasingly harsher punishments on me. If the blood wards affect them negatively, that would be a reasonable conclusion. The Dursleys might have even been okay caretakers without the influence of blood wards!"

When Harry finished speaking, Albus knew he was doomed. As if the rest of the Wizarding World did not sympathize with Harry enough, that last statement just painted him as the ultimate victim, while Albus was the evil villain. His support-the-light, treat-Muggles-nicely façade would be destroyed as well. Even his own staff seemed to have turned against him – Minerva's scowl was the sternest he has ever seen it to be and Severus – even Severus! – was glaring daggers at him. Albus had not said a single word in response to Amelia's question about blood wards, but everyone knew that he had indeed established them.

Amelia stood up again, which immediately silenced the court room.

"Using blood wards on Muggle households is definitely illegal. However, the Chief Warlock is immune to any action held against him or her when executed by the Wizengamot," Amelia explained, "But we did have a seconded proposition to oust Chief Warlock Dumbledore earlier, proposed by Mr Nott and seconded by Mr Malfoy. Perhaps it would be appropriate to do so now, Chief Warlock Ogden."

Tiberius nodded. "Yes, let us do that now. All who support Chief Warlock Dumbledore and would like him to remain as Chief Warlock, please raise your wands."

Only five Wizengamot members raised their wands in support for Dumbledore.

"All who are against Dumbledore as Chief Warlock, please raise your wands," Tiberius continued.

Nearly all of the remaining Wizengamot members raised their wands, with only a couple individuals abstaining. Lucius Malfoy looked positively gleeful – and no words could even describe how extremely delighted Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge looked.

"A conclusion has been made. Headmaster Dumbledore will no longer serve as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. As per Article 3, Act 2, the Wizengamot will convene once again after 24 hours to nominate and elect a new Chief Witch or Warlock," Tiberius stated.

"Before we proceed with the issue of blood wards, let us take a ten minute break before we convene again. Furthermore, Madame Bones, please collect all materials and prepare to brief us on the Pettigrew-Black matter."

* * *

As people rose to stretch their legs and converse with each other, Mr Weasley leaned close to Harry and asked, "So, what do you think?"

Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I'm glad this is happening," he responded briefly, "But I wish all this was done sooner."

Mr Weasley sighed. "Better now than later, or even never. Though no kid, especially not a wonderful kid like you, deserves to suffer such an unhappy life because of our world's injustices," he proclaimed as he ruffled Harry's permanently messy hair.

Harry looked at Mr Weasley straight in the eyes. "I agree. But your family has already made my life much happier."

"I do have a question though – what's the Pettigrew-Black case?"

* * *

"The Wizengamot shall now assemble once again."

Tiberius shuffled his notes. "Since Headmaster Dumbledore is no longer Chief Warlock, it is now possible for this court to conduct a trial for him. To review the facts of the case: when Madame Bones asked Headmaster Dumbledore whether he had used blood wards on the Dursley household due to a sufficient basis for inquiry, he neither affirmed nor denied this accusation. A mere presence of interest and lack of denial in the involvement of magic that harms Muggles and interferes with Muggles' lives allows jurisdiction for the Wizengamot to initiate this trial, as per Article 19, Act 43."

"All in favor of conducting a trial on Headmaster Dumbledore, please raise your wands."

Nearly the entire courtroom raised their wands, with Malfoy and Nott visibly present in this voting as well. Even members of prominent light families, such as Augusta Longbottom and Amos Diggory, did not hesitate for a single moment to raise their wands.

"All against conducting a trial on Headmaster Dumbledore, please raise your wands."

The courtroom was eerily silent, as everyone craned their necks to see who would be the first one to raise his or her wand. As it turns out, no one did. A few members abstained from voting, which was not unexpected, but raising their wand right now would have been pointless and could potentially ruin their reputations.

Tiberius nodded. "Thus it has been confirmed that a trial will be held for Albus Dumbledore regarding his actions in establishing blood wards for a Muggle house. A date will be set for this trial in the near future."

* * *

"Let us now proceed with the final issue in relation to the Potter wills – the emergence of new evidence that may influence the Pettigrew-Black case. Madame Bones, if you may?" Tiberius gestured towards Amelia.

Amelia stood up, her back straight and shoulders broad, before speaking to the large courtroom. She held a thin folder of records from that case, which she had just received from the Room of Records three minutes prior. "The case of Sirius Black is one of the most infamous incidents in the wizarding world's history. In short, Sirius Black was a man who seemed friendly and boisterous – in fact, I worked closely with him when we were both Aurors."

"He was the best friend of James Potter, as well a close friend of Peter Pettigrew, all of whom were his Gryffindor dorm mates. Since he had such a familiar relationship with the Potters, no one doubted that Black served as the Potters' Secret Keeper," she summarized from the reports.

"On the night of October 31st, 1981, the Potter wards fell, which permitted You-Know-Who to enter the household. This action is only performable by the Secret Keeper, so Black had directly caused the deaths of James and Lily Potter."

"The next day, Black and Pettigrew were sighted in a confrontation in a Muggle street. After shouting at each other, Black killed off Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles in the proximity. The only body part left at the scene was one of Pettigrew's fingers. Black was found laughing maniacally. When inquired if he was responsible for everything, he immediately sobered up and admitted that he was guilty."

As the rest of the Wizengamot waited in heavy suspense to hear what happened at the trial, Amelia did not continue to speak. She only furrowed her eyebrows and flipped the reports back and forth. Unable to wait any longer, a man in the second row shouted, "Well, what happened next?"

"There is no record of anything that followed, only the entrance of Black into Azkaban immediately after his arrest," Amelia replied, "Not even a trial transcript! Surely Black must have had a trial?"

Mutters broke out in the crowd. Elder witches and wizards who had served on the Wizengamot in 1981 tried to think back to whether there was a trial or not – but the only results were plenty of head scratching and chin tapping.

"No trial transcript means there was never a trial," Tiberius stated forcefully, "Which means that a retrial for Sirius Black is necessary, with or without new evidence. This trial will occur in the next few weeks as well, when more information is gathered."

"And that concludes our Wizengamot session today. All is dismissed."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Whew - that was quite a lot of action in this chapter! Hope it all went ok! I know it's super dense, especially with all that legal, formal language embedded in such a long chapter. I promise the rest of the fic won't be this boring!

How was this chapter - surprising, boring, too fast? Please tell me in the reviews! Please review - reviews really spur me on to write more!

 **Next chapter** : Harry responds to Hermione's letter, a few special characters will be introduced, and Harry talks to Mr Weasley.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** The last 4 months have been really chaotic for me. I deeply apologize for the late update. Here's Chapter 6!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

It had been a few days since the reading of his parents' wills, but Harry's mind was still reeling from all the consequences of that reading. He had a godfather who was sent to prison without a trial. His parents were the godparents of Neville, and they also knew Snape on a personal level – in highly different ways, of course. Best of all, Harry didn't need to live with the Dursleys anymore! Madame Bones would be bringing him to meet the Tonks later today and he simply couldn't wait; no matter how the family was, there was no way the Tonks could be worse than the Dursleys.

Additionally, Dumbledore had just been put on trial yesterday. The Wizengamot had ruled that while Dumbledore had committed an illegal activity in using blood wards on a Muggle household, he was still an asset to wizarding society with his wisdom and advanced magical abilities, so he was not placed in Azkaban. He was, however, banned from holding any leadership positions related to legal enforcement, education ( _especially_ Hogwarts), international relations, and the Ministry.

Thinking of Dumbledore's downfall caused Harry to think of Hermione's letter. It had been quite a while since she sent the letter, but he still had not responded since he did not know how to. He reached for a quill and some parchment, finally forcing himself to reply.

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _My summer has been amazing – definitely the best summer I've ever had! I am currently living with Ron and his family, and they have been really nice to me about everything._

 _I have been reading the Daily Prophet the last couple weeks, and everything they have reported is true. Dumbledore really did seal my parents' wills and ignore their last wishes. The Dursleys did abuse me, and Dumbledore did condemn me to their treatment for so many years. I never told you or Ron about it because I hate talking about it. Today's Prophet talks about Dumbledore's trial about using illegal blood wards on the Dursleys – and that's true as well._

 _I don't know how to say this nicely, but the way you view Dumbledore is only a glorified illusion. Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time or not, is still a human being who makes mistakes. He made many mistakes in dealing with me and my childhood, so I am not going to write to the Daily Prophet and tell them to stop 'spouting ridiculous lies.' You need to see past adults' titles and authority and start judging them with your own eyes, Hermione._

 _With the will readings and trials, I haven't been able to do much homework but I did finish my Herbology assignment. That's certainly more than what Ron has done!_

 _Harry_

Scanning his letter again, Harry nodded in satisfaction. This would do for now. He folded it and gave it to Hedwig to send to Hermione.

* * *

"Harry, this is Nymphadora Tonks," Amelia gestured to the blue-haired woman standing next to her in Amelia's office, "She is currently one of my Auror trainees and graduated Hogwarts two years ago."

"Wotcher, Harry! But please call me Tonks – don't call me Nymphadora in any circumstance." Tonks waved to Harry.

Harry nodded slowly. "Nice to meet you, Tonks. I like your hair!"

Tonks grinned widely. "I can change it to other colors too – see, now it's purple!"

"Wow, that's amazing! How do you do it?" Harry gaped at Tonks' quick hair color change.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus, Harry!" Tonk cheerfully exclaimed, as she added bright pink streaks in her purple hair. "That means I can change my appearance at will. You must be born as a Metamorphmagus, so it's quite rare unfortunately."

Harry, originally hopeful, frowned. _That's a shame_ , he thought to himself. He'd love to be able to hide his famous scar or his bright green eyes occasionally.

Amelia Bones impatiently tapped her foot. "Let's get going, shall we, Tonks?"

"Right, right – yes, Madam Bones!" Tonks immediately straightened up and changed her hair back to the original blue tone. "So Harry, you'll be meeting my parents first – they're kind of strict, but they are very caring people so you don't need to worry too much – you won't trip over as many things as I trip over, so I'm sure they'll like you a ton – and they also – "

"And then Tonks will also take you on a tour of her parents' house, where you will be residing for the rest of the summer, and have dinner there." Amelia interrupted, unable to bear Tonks' rambling any longer.

"Yes, exactly!" Tonks nodded. "You've used the Floo Network before, right?"

Harry shook his head. The _what_ network now?

"How flooing works is that you just grab some powder, throw it in the fireplace, step in, and shout the name of the address – loud and clear! My parents' address is '39 Miramonte Villa.' You think you can remember that?"

 _39 Miramonte Villa, 39 Miramonte Villa, 39 Miramonte Villa_ … Harry repeated the address in his mind over and over again. He then nodded and braced himself for his first flooing experience.

* * *

Harry coughed out a mouthful of ash and stumbled into the ground. His glasses had flown out somewhere when he landed and his jaw had painfully rubbed against the rough carpet. "I hate flooing," he muttered quietly. Harry rolled over and slowly stood up, brushing all the ash off of his clothes.

"First time using the Floo?" a man's voice cheerily asked, as a woman handed Harry his glasses.

"Yeah," Harry replied. A moment later, the fireplace flashed green. Tonks stumbled awkwardly out of the fireplace, not unlike Harry did just now.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry, Dora's been using the Floo for ages and she's no better than you!"

Tonks grinned, not minding her father's joke – because it was, indeed, quite true. "Harry, this man who delights in mocking me is my father Ted. And this very-scary-looking-but-is-actually-nice woman here is my mother Andromeda."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr Tonks, Mrs Tonks." Harry politely greeted and shook their respective hands.

"Nonsense, calling us Mr and Mrs just makes us feel older than we already are!" Andromeda exclaimed. "Just call us Ted and Andromeda in the future, Harry," she warmly smiled.

Harry smiled. The Tonks were really nice and they were quite a funny family, if the last few minutes were anything to go by! He couldn't wait for the house tour and dinner.

* * *

After dinner, Tonks escorted Harry back to The Burrow (thankfully not through the Floo this time). Harry was absolutely bursting with excitement – the Tonks were just _wonderful_ , _absolutely wonderful people_! There wasn't a more fitting environment. Ted was really generous and gentle; Harry found out that Ted was a Muggle-Born like Harry's mother, so he enjoyed Muggle activities like football, fishing, and camping, all of which Harry secretly hoped to do with Ted this summer. Andromeda wasn't as warm as Ted – in fact, she could seem quite cold and strict at times – but once they started talking, Harry realized that she was nothing like she seemed. She had a loud, infectious laugh – except when Tonks broke a plate, Andromeda certainly didn't laugh at that – and she was genuinely interested in Harry's life. And Tonks – she was just a spectacular and colorful individual. Tonks was always bubbling with energy, always cheerful and optimistic. Harry couldn't wait to spend the rest of the summer with the Tonks family – after another 4 days with the Weasleys, of course.

As Harry's mind tried to unpack his eventful day meeting the Tonks, Arthur Weasley thanked Tonks for bringing Harry back to The Burrow and wished her a safe journey back home.

"How was your day, Harry?" Arthur inquired.

Harry grinned. "It was fantastic! Ted and Andromeda were really nice, and Tonks is amazing – she's super happy all the time, and she can even change her hair color at will!"

"That's great!" Arthur responded. "Just know that you're always welcome here at The Burrow, Harry. We've enjoyed having you here."

Harry blushed slightly. "No, I really need to thank you for letting me stay here for so long – you guys have been amazing, and not just in helping me escape the Dursley situation either."

"No, no need to thank us!" Arthur hastily responded.

"However, Harry, I wanted to talk to you about something…" Arthur faded off, seeing the young boy's widened eyes. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything. If anything happened, there's an 80 percent chance that it's Fred and George's fault. Maybe more like 95 percent, actually…"

Harry sighed in relief. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Arthur thought back to the conversation Molly had with him about a week ago. "A little over a week ago, Molly told me she had overheard you and Ron talking about a house elf blocking your mail." Harry's eyes widened again, so Arthur took that as confirmation of his words. "I don't know much detail, but it is concerning if this is true and if it keeps happening. Could you briefly tell me what happened?"

"A house elf named Dobby showed up in my room one night suddenly, shrieking about potential danger if I come to Hogwarts this year," Harry slowly explained, "Dobby said that he had stolen all my mail so I wouldn't go back to Hogwarts. I told him that I'll be returning to Hogwarts this year, so he used magic and dropped a cake on my uncle's clients. The Dursleys were really mad with me after that."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "So that's where your underage magic notice came from? You didn't perform magic yourself?"

Harry shook his head.

Arthur was deeply alarmed. This was certainly a lot more than what he expected. Stealing mail, trespassing onto private property, and masking underage magic? And why did the name "Dobby" sound so familiar?

"Thanks for telling me, Harry," Arthur told Harry in a gentle tone, "I'll talk to Amelia or someone at the Ministry this week and see if we can sort everything out."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Hope you enjoyed this chapter - it was more of a in-between chapter, before the _real_ action starts. Please review and let me know how this chapter was! Thanks for reading :)

 **Next chapter** : Sirius' trial.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Here's Chapter 7 - enjoy, and please tell me what you thought of the developments made thus far in a review! Happy August!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

Harry grimaced as he thought about his circumstances – here he was, going to the Wizengamot courtroom twice in the same summer. He held onto Dora's hand as Andromeda and Ted led the way into the courtroom. They were seated in a special section for family and friends during Sirius's trial. Mr Weasley, who Harry had invited to join him, was also seated in that section.

Tiberius Ogden, who had since replaced Albus Dumbledore as the permanent Chief Warlock, stood up and pointed his wand to the ceiling. The courtroom instantly silenced. "Please take a seat, everyone, so we could begin this trial promptly at 9 o'clock."

In the back of the courtroom, cameras flashed away. A horde of reporters and media members eagerly awaited what could become the most famous trial of the century.

Tiberius stood up and began speaking to the Wizengamot. "Today, we are here to oversee the trial of Sirius Black for a crime he was accused of conducting in the year 1981. For some reason, there was never a trial held after the Black-Pettigrew case, so we shall hold a retrial today. Do note that this retrial does not mean the defendant is guaranteed to be innocent – the purpose of the trial is to follow our court system and ensure justice."

"The defendant is charged with the use of magic in front of Muggles, the murder of Peter Pettigrew, and the deaths of 12 Muggles. Prosecution counsel, you may begin." Tiberius gestured to the Ministry's top prosecutor, Madame Ruth Beris.

"The prosecution calls Sirius Black to the stand," Madame Beris commanded.

Sirius, donning old, black robes and long, shaggy hair, trudged towards the witness stand. "Before my testimony begins, I would like to make a request of the court," he stated.

"And what request may that be?" Tiberius inquired.

"I would like to invoke my right to testify under the use of Veritaserum."

Immediately, Wizengamot members sputtered and protested against this. Madame Beris shouted over the mild noise. "Objection, Chief Warlock Ogden! A defendant is not allowed to utilize Veritaserum during a criminal trial."

Sirius's attorney stood up. "Objection, sir. By Article 3, Act 51 of the Wizengamot Constitution, Veritaserum can be used in a criminal trial should a special circumstance should arise. Whether the circumstance is 'special' is decided by the Chief Warlock."

"But because this trial is occurring _ten years later_ than it should have, I fully believe that this case qualifies as a 'special circumstance'." He finished and glanced at Tiberius.

Tiberius tapped his chin and pondered the situation for a minute, before finally nodding. "Permission for the defendant to use Veritaserum in testifying is granted. Madame Bones, please go fetch enough Veritaserum for the defendant to use."

* * *

Harry lightly poked Andromeda. "What is the Verathingy- whatever they said?"

Andromeda frowned but answered nonetheless. "Veritaserum is a truth potion. It forces the drinker to tell the truth for a limited amount of time. Now be quiet."

Madame Bones quickly scurried back into the courtroom holding a small vial and walked next to where Sirius sat. "Mister Black, please tip your head back and open your mouth. I will pour three drops in."

Sirius obeyed her commands and Amelia carefully poured three drops out of the vial into his mouth. "What is your name?" Amelia asked as a means of testing the effectiveness of the serum.

"Sirius Orion Black."

"What month and day were you born on?"

"I was born on the third of November."

Amelia nodded. "Let the record be known that the defendant is now under the influence of Veritaserum."

"Thank you Amelia," Tiberius's voice rang loud and clear around the Wizengamot. "Madame Beris, proceed with your questioning."

Madame Beris looked a little unsettled by the latest happenings. She had neither expected nor prepared for a circumstance where the defendant would be forced to tell only the truth. In her decades of experience as a Ministry prosecutor, she has never participated in a case that involved Veritaserum.

"Mister Black, did you or did you not admit that you were guilty when you were found by the Aurors?"

"Yes, I did."

"So you were guilty of the crimes you were charged of?"

"No, I am not guilty for the deaths of the twelve Muggles. I did use magic in front of Muggles, I suppose. But I admitted I was guilty to the Aurors in the sense that I had indirectly led to the deaths of the Potters."

Murmurs scattered around the Wizengamot in response to Sirius's oddly convoluted response. "Silence!" Tiberius shouted.

Meanwhile, Madame Beris was panicking inside. By that answer, she knew that Sirius was innocent of the murders – and with him using a truth serum, there was simply no method of painting him in a negative light. "The prosecution has no further questions, Chief Warlock Ogden."

Sirius's attorney stood up and addressed Chief Warlock Ogden. "Defense would like to add to the examination of our defendant while he is still under the influence of Veritaserum."

Tiberius nodded. "Permission granted. Please proceed."

Walking towards where Sirius sat, the defense attorney questioned, "Mister Black, please answer with simple a Yes or No – did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

The jaws of many Wizengamot members dropped. Cameras suddenly flashed away and reporters furiously scrambled to take notes of this unexpected response.

"Another Yes or No please – did you kill the twelve Muggles?"

"No."

"Mister Black, in your own words, please describe what happened on the evening of October 31st, 1980."

"That Halloween night, I…"

* * *

When the final judgment was made, Harry and the Tonks family hurried out of the courtroom, eager to avoid the throng of reporters. Dora grabbed his hand and whisked him into the nearest floo before shouting "39 Miramonte Villa!" The two elder Tonkses followed suit.

Harry and Dora landed in a heap in front of the fireplace while Ted and Andromeda tried not to trip over them upon landing. Harry was the first to get up, with a broad smile on his face. "I can't believe he's innocent – and now, free!"

* * *

After the Wizengamot voted on the final decision, wizards and witches crowded the hallway to leave the courtroom. Arthur Weasley was swept along with the wave of individuals, but he stopped at the sight of Madame Bones.

"Amelia!" he called out, "Could I talk to you in your office for a minute?"

Amelia, hearing Arthur's shouts, nodded and gestured him to walk towards her office. Once the two individuals reached Amelia's office, she closed and locked her office door.

"So what's the urgent issue, Arthur? I assume you wanted to talk to me in my office due to my office's strong privacy," Amelia inquired.

Arthur nodded. "Good observation – I did want to make this conversation completely private. I wanted to talk to you about two issues, actually."

"You know that Harry Potter was residing in my house since he and my son Ronald are best friends?" Arthur continued, "Well, a few weeks ago, my wife Molly overheard a conversation between Harry and Ron that was quite concerning."

"Oh?" Amelia was quite interested in how a conversation between two children could be concerning. "How so?"

"I decided to talk to Harry personally about that conversation. To summarize, Harry claimed that a house elf had stolen his mail and performed magic in their Muggle household, which caused him to get an underage magic notice. He also mentioned that the house elf was shrieking about there being danger if Harry attended Hogwarts this year."

Amelia scribbled Arthur's words down. "That is very concerning. House elves usually never go to other households unless their masters ordered them too, but this doesn't seem to be the case. And preventing Harry's mail – that's an invasion of privacy!"

"That's what I thought," Arthur concurred, "which is why I thought it would be good to give you notice of this peculiar incident. Would this be enough to retract Harry's underage magic violation?"

"Yes, yes, most definitely. I shall talk to Mafalda Hopkirk about this, and it should be erased from Harry's record," Amelia responded, "Did Harry mention the name of the house elf? House elves usually talk in the third person, so it should be easy to glean the house elf's name from a conversation."

Arthur tapped his chin in deep thought. "Yes, I think Harry said the house elf's name was Dobby!"

Amelia raised her eyebrow. "Dobby? Isn't that Lucius Malfoy's house elf that follows him everywhere? Hmm, this certainly is interesting. I shall do a deeper investigation on this."

"Now what was your second issue, Arthur?"

At her mention of the second issue, Arthur's expression immediately became more somber. "In the trial today, I heard of one detail that was quite … surprising."

"Does this detail relate to you directly?" Amelia asked.

Arthur gulped. "Yes, it actually does. You see, Sirius Black mentioned that Peter Pettigrew was a rat Animagus, and that he cut off one of his toes when he escaped."

Amelia nodded and gestured for Arthur to continue.

"Ah, well, my son has a rat that is missing one of its toes. And the timeline rather fits - this rat has been with our family for ten, eleven years or so."

Amelia's eyes widened. "Normal rats don't live that long, I believe. This most definitely needs further investigation – immediately. Even if your son's rat is just a normal rat, it would be better to take precautions."

"Arthur, I need you to go home right now and make sure to lock that rat in a secure setting and put up anti-Animagus charms in the house," Amelia commanded. "An Auror will follow you shortly after you leave. Do not speak of the trial or its results to anyone in the house until you do that – we need to capture Pettigrew."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Back in the courtroom for another whirlwind - how'd it go? Forgive me for not including Sirius's testimony, but I thought it would be tiresome for fanfiction readers to read what is already so familiar to the HP world.

What do you think will happen next? Let me know in the reviews!

 **Next chapter** : Amelia acts on Arthur's concerns - both of them. Hmm...


	8. Chapter 8

Without further ado, here is the long awaited Chapter 8! Thank you so much for still following along, if any of you are. I'll include more comments in the end notes.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

Arthur Weasley hurried home to the Burrow. He stepped out of the fireplace, carelessly brushing ash and Floo Powder off of his robes.

"Molly? Molly!"

Molly Weasley scampered down the stairs. "Hi Arthur! How was your day?" she greeted cheerfully, before seeing her husband's somber face. Her wide smile slipped off her face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain," Arthur uttered, "I need you to set up anti-Animagus charms around the entire Burrow – even the yard! Please, I don't remember how to do that spell and you were always better at charms than me."

Both of Molly's eyebrows shot up. "Anti-Animagus spells? For what possible reason do we need – "

Seeing the hard look on Arthur's face, Molly paused her speech and nodded firmly. It was rare for her husband to demonstrate such behavior.

"Okay, I'll do that right now. But you _better_ explain later."

* * *

Amelia Bones strolled into the Aurors' office space, her boots loudly clanking with every step and her robes sweeping behind her. The chatter among the Aurors immediately quieted. It was rare for the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement to stop by herself. Amelia's footsteps slowed to halt at the front of the office space.

"I need everyone's attention please!"

* * *

As Mrs Weasley scrambled to cover every corner of the Burrow with an anti-Animagus charm, Mr Weasley ran up the stairs of the Burrow and hollered, "Ron? RON!"

Ron peeped his head out from his bedroom.

"Hey Dad! How was – are you alright?"

Arthur shook his head, but he had no time to explain. "Where's Scabbers?"

"Uh, let me check – it's right here on my pillow!" Ron exclaimed, puzzled at his father's question.

Arthur sighed in relief. This made things much easier. Before Ron could even react, Arthur instantly whipped out his wand.

" _Stupefy_!"

Ron's eyed widened comically. "DAD!"

Arthur picked up the now-limp rat and nodded to himself.

"Does Scabbers have a cage? Let's put it in there and lock it too."

"Dad, what is going on?" Ron asked in disbelief, "you just stunned my rat!"

"Ron, I don't have time to explain. Scabbers is not actually a rat – please hand me his cage, we really don't have time!"

 _Bloody hell, Dad's serious_ , Ron thought. It was normal for his mother to raise her voice, but his dad? Something must be spectacularly wrong for this to occur. He shuffled through the pile of books, clothes, and scrolls on his desk, finally finding his desired object.

"Aha! Here's his cage. Sorry for it being a little dirty, Scabbers hates being in the cage," Ron explained.

Arthur shoved the unconscious rat into the cage. "Thank you Ron, I really appreciate your willingness to do this and not question me. I promise I'll explain later," he gently patted his son on his shoulder, "but an Auror should be arriving any second."

The familiar sounds of someone entering the Burrow's Floo affirmed Arthur's words.

* * *

"Shacklebolt, Robards – I need you two to visit the Malfoy Manor," Amelia commanded.

Kingsley merely nodded, while Gawain Robards's jaw dropped. The chatter around the Aurors' office increased again.

"With all due respect, madam, Malfoy Manor? Owned by _the_ Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yes," Amelia confirmed, "A strange situation arose. Malfoy's house-elf has visited Harry Potter this summer, multiple times –"

" _Harry Potter? The-Boy-Who-Lived?"_

"If you don't stop screeching, I will silence you myself, Gawain!"

Gawain closed his mouth after his loud outburst. Amelia continued.

"As I was saying, Malfoy's house elf – Dobby – has visited Harry Potter multiple times this summer, to his Muggle family's home. Dobby has not only trespassed a Muggle household, it also allegedly stole Potter's mail and performed magic in the presence of other Muggles."

Even the ever-so-calm Kingsley quirked a brow at this proclamation.

"So, please visit Lucius and Dobby, and get their statements on this situation so we can know the truth," Amelia concluded, "both of you have the Ministry's permission to investigate anything related to this issue, while at Malfoy Manor."

* * *

John Dawlish tumbled out of the Floo, face flat onto the Burrow's hardwood floor. An experienced Auror he may be, but Flooing always caused him trouble. He gently pushed himself off the ground.

"Arthur, are you here? This is Auror John Dawlish, Amelia sent me here."

"Upstairs, John!"

John climbed up the staircase, still not completely sure why exactly he was here. Madam Bones had rushed into the Auror office and pushed him towards the Burrow – she muttered something about seeing Arthur Weasley's son's pet rat? John had no idea what could possibly be important enough _about a kid's pet_ to warrant the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's attention.

"John, thank goodness you're here. I've stunned and locked up Ron's rat here," Arthur spoke rapidly.

John's mind spun even more. _What is going on?_

Sensing the Auror's confusion, Arthur hurried to explain. "I see Amelia hasn't told you about this. But during Harry's trial today, I heard a very interesting detail. Sirius Black mentioned that Pettigrew was a rat Animagus, right?"

John nodded.

"And Black claimed under Veritaserum that Pettigrew cut off one of his toes when he fled," Arthur continued.

"Right…" John trailed as his eyes grew wide. "Blast this all! Your son's rat is missing a toe!"

"Exactly! And Scabbers – that's the name of Ron's rat – was found by Percy in our backyard ten, eleven years ago. That perfectly fits the timeline!" Arthur clapped his hands in delight. "Even if it isn't Pettigrew, we better take precautions with Scabbers."

Leaning against the doorframe, Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Surely_ , he thought in horror, _his rat wasn't a MAN?_ He didn't know who Pettigrew was, but just pondering about the idea of his rat being a live human being made Ron want to hurl.

John's lips thinned into a serious grimace. "Understood, Arthur. Now, the both of you – stand back! Ron, could you please close the door and lock it?"

John then pulled out his wand and pointed it at the cage.

" _Alohomora_ ," he whispered.

The cage door creaked open, and John stepped closer to the cage to peer at the still-Stunned rat. He then levitated and lowered Scabbers onto Ron's bed, before raising his wand again.

A bright blue light shot out from the Auror's wand, speeding towards the limp rat. Suddenly, the rat began to grow in a grotesque fashion, like how the limbs of the violent Whomping Willow would sprout out. A man's head slowly ballooned, arms and legs stretching in all directions. Where Scabbers had previously lay, an unconscious man laid in the same spot.

" _Bloody hell_ ," the three men watching this transformation whispered in utter shock and horror.

The currently stunned man was rather short, barely Ron's height. Barely any hair covered his head. His face was marked with a pointed nose, just like the rat he just was. Arthur could recognize this man anywhere – it was clearly the former Order of the Phoenix member, Peter Pettigrew!

Worst of all, a shiny black design peeked out from underneath the man's left sleeve. Auror Dawlish wasted no time to shove the sleeve back up to Pettigrew's elbow.

The outline of the Dark Mark unmistakably gleamed underneath the sunlight from Ron's bedroom window.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kingsley and Gawain Apparated to the grounds outside of Malfoy Manor. They glided across the path leading to the grand entrance.

"Figures," Gawain muttered, glancing at the many peacocks in the fields.

Kingsley pounded his fist three times on the manor's large, wooden door. "The Ministry of Magic is present."

One door shifted open, revealing a beautiful blond woman. "How may I help you today, gentlemen?"

"You must be Mrs. Malfoy," Gawain greeted as they both shook the lady's hand, "we are at the command of the Ministry to speak to your husband and your house elf."

Despite her many years of etiquette training, Narcissa failed to keep a completely still expression. "Pardon me, our… house elf?"

"Yes, madam," Kingsley replied, "It says here in our notes to talk to … Dobby? Is Dobby the name of your house elf?"

A stunned daze overcame Narcissa's face. She tried to shake out of it, to no avail.

"Yes, yes it is. Come on in please, I'll go find Lucius."

* * *

If Lucius Malfoy was annoyed at two prominent Aurors intruding upon his household for unclear reasons, his face certainly didn't show it.

"How may I help you today, Auror Shacklebolt and Auror Robards?"

Kingsley pulled out more notes from his pocket. "Mr. Malfoy, Madam Bones wanted you and your house elf to answer some questions."

"My house elf?" Lucius echoed his wife's earlier confusion.

"Yes, Dobby!" Gawain impatiently exclaimed. "Let's start with you first. Were you aware that your house elf has been visiting Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter?" Lucius was absolutely flabbergasted. "Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived Potter? My son's classmate Potter?"

"Yes sir, that's the one."

Lucius scoffed. "Of course not! My house elf would never disobey me."

Kingsley and Gawain exchanged a look. While Lucius could be lying, his initial reaction of pure astonishment looked genuine.

Kingsley nodded. "Alright, sir. Could you call your house elf here now?"

"DOBBY!" Lucius bellowed.

A quick flash later, and the house elf stood in front of the three men. It donned a dirty yellow pillowcase that covered its body, although ripped and shredded in many places. Its enormous, green tennis balls-resembling eyes widened with fear as Dobby looked up at his master, before glancing guiltily at the ground. Gawain noticed that Dobby's fingers were wrapped in layers of gauze. _How odd_ , Gawain pondered, mentally comparing Dobby to other house elves he has encountered in the past.

"Dobby," Lucius growled impatiently, "these Aurors claim that you have visited Harry Potter. Is that true?"

Defying all laws of nature, Dobby's eyes grew even larger and began to water.

"Dobby, I command you to tell me the truth," Lucius demanded. "Did you, or did you not visit Harry Potter?"

"Dobby did!" Dobby wailed.

Lucius grimaced. Gawain eagerly recorded Dobby's response in his notes.

Kingsley continued Lucius's line of questioning. "Why were you at Harry Potter's residence?"

"Dobby – Dobby can't say, sir," the short house elf stammered, "it was to save the great Harry Potter!"

All three men looked at Dobby in pure puzzlement.

"Dobby told Harry Potter that he must NOT go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!" Dobby blurted. "But Harry Potter didn't listen!"

"So Dobby did whatever it took to convince Harry Potter to not return to school! Dobby prevented Harry Potter from talking to his friends. Dobby even exploded a cake in his house! But he still didn't listen. Harry Potter will be in great danger if he goes back to – "

"Danger?" Gawain interrupted Dobby's babbling. "How will Harry be in danger? What were you saving him from?"

Dobby shook his head vigorously, his eyes glassy and bright. "Dobby can't say, sir, Dobby can't say or he will be punished!"

"Alright Dobby, that's enough," Lucius grumbled as he kicked Dobby to the side, "gentlemen, I think it is clear that Dobby has simply been exhibiting lunatic behavior and disobeying my orders. Have no fear, we will surely punish Dobby – "

"Hold on," Kingsley's no-nonsense tone cut into Lucius's words.

"Dobby, you said you can't say or else you'll be punished. House elves are usually punished only for disobeying their master's secret. Is Harry Potter in danger because of something your master has done?" Kingsley reasoned.

"Auror Shacklebolt, that notion is absolutely ridiculous – "

Gawain grinned at hearing Lucius's quick denial. "No no, please go on Dobby."

Dobby stood there paralyzed. His eyes drifted to his master, which was the only sign the two Aurors needed.

"Lucius Malfoy, you are under arrest for the potential endangerment of an underage individual," Kingsley stated. He then fished out a small slip from his pocket. "We also have a warrant from the Ministry to raid your house for any reason should you be arrested."

"Gawain, please take Malfoy to Madam Bones for questioning," he continued, "and bring more Aurors to look through this house for anything suspicious. I will continue questioning Dobby."

Lucius hadn't been able to get in a single word edgewise throughout this discussion. As he opened his mouth to protest, he realized he couldn't utter a word out loud. One of the Aurors must have silenced him!

Blast, he didn't carry his wand on him right now either. This day really was not going well for Lucius Malfoy, and it only seemed to get worse.

* * *

 _Pettigrew Found, Malfoy Arrested!_

 _Yesterday's Daily Prophet feature described the trial of the century in great detail, particularly the shocking revelation that Sirius Black had been found innocent for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and nearby Muggles in the year 1980. Furthermore, Black revealed under Veritaserum that Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potter family to You-Know-Who, not himself._

 _A day after the trial, Peter Pettigrew had been found and captured by Aurors. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has thoroughly questioned and sentenced Pettigrew to the Veil of Death for his many horrific actions._

 _The day continued to be very eventful for the Ministry, as the patriarch of the well-established Malfoy lineage – Lucius Malfoy – has been arrested by the Aurors for possessing a Dark Object of the highest, most harmful level and is thus illegal in the Wizarding society. The Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, spoke that Malfoy had devised a plan to introduce that Dark Object into the Hogwarts (where Mr. Malfoy currently serves as a Governor), which would have endangered many students, including his own son Draco as well as The-Boy-Who-Lived._

 _"The Ministry of Magic is definitely disappointed Mr. Malfoy's actions. Although we are extremely grateful for all his charity and help towards improving the Ministry and the Wizarding World, we must condemn any action that brings significant danger to so many children," Minister Fudge stated in an interview with the Prophet._

 _Author: Ruben Stuarts_

* * *

 **Author's note** : I am so, so deeply apologetic for taking more than half a year to update this fic. I promise it has not been abandoned. Thank you for all who have supported me and - hopefully - still read this story! The truth is, I've been struggling with a lot of different things in life since my last update - life got 20x busier the week after I last updated, I've faced some school-related issues, I've also dealt with mental health problems, and more. Life is a lot more stable now :) I actually abandoned reading and writing fanfiction for a few months to clear my head. But I'm back, and I'm super glad to be!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, the longest chapter in this fic thus far. Would love to hear your thoughts in the reviews!


	9. Chapter 9

An update within 3 weeks? What is this sorcery! Hope you enjoy Chapter 9.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

The last few days have been absolutely glorious for Harry.

Not only has his parents' traitorous friend been discovered and executed, his intramural nemesis's father has been arrested for Dark means - Harry truly looked forward to a whole school year where Draco couldn't sneer his catchphrase "My father will hear about this!".

And the Tonks family! Harry couldn't find enough words in the universe to weave together enough praise for them. Dora was like the older sister Harry never knew he wanted; despite her clumsy behavior, she was a decent flyer and they two had a blast flying together over the backyard last night. Andromeda and Ted were the most wonderful guardians! Ted was soft, gentle, and humorous, which was complemented perfectly by Andromeda's stern yet caring demeanor.

The sound of footsteps growing louder broke Harry's reverie. He turned his head towards the door to see Andromeda's head peek into his room.

"Good morning Andromeda!" Harry exclaimed with a wide grin.

A warm smile broke out on Andromeda's face.

"Good morning, Harry," Andromeda greeted in response, "I apologize for interrupting whatever you may be doing right now, but there's someone downstairs that I'd like you to meet."

Harry instantly shot out of his chair. "Who is it?" he asked in eager tones.

Andromeda merely nodded and gestured her arm towards the staircase. Harry followed her downstairs, his heart pounding as his head sped through the possibilities of who may be awaiting him. He kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to look up.

Then, Andromeda's feet slowed to a halt as they descended into the living room.

"Harry, this is your godfather Sirius, who also happens to be my cousin."

Harry's eyes widened. A man with long, black hair looked back at him across the room. He donned a dark brown coat with patches and loose threads. His gaze was darkened and his eyes alone seemed to convey a lifetime of pain and agony, but the edge of his lips tugged into a smile at the sight of his best friend's son before him.

He looked like a broken man who just started to heal.

Andromeda patted Harry's shoulder. "I'll leave you to talk for a bit, okay?"

Harry, still too overwhelmed with emotion to utter any words, vigorously nodded.

* * *

"Your wand, please. We need to verify your identity."

Amelia stopped at the desk and handed her wand over to the official in front of her.

"Very well. Madame Bones, please proceed to the second room to the left down this hallway, where you will find Agent #1729."

"Thank you for your help," Amelia nodded in response.

Amelia never enjoyed walking through the offices of the Unspeakables. Their entire department remained much of a mystery to the whole Ministry, so Amelia has had extremely limited interaction with any Unspeakable in the past. But this was an incredibly unique issue that demanded the services of the Unspeakables.

"Madame Bones, please take a seat," a woman's voice sounded.

As Amelia sat down, Amelia's eyes zeroed in on the Unspeakable who had just spoken. Her hair carried bright aqua and purple streaks amidst its natural black. She sat comfortably in a large leather chair right across from Amelia.

"You may call me Agent #1729," the Unspeakable continued. "How may I help you today, Madame Bones?"

Amelia opened her briefcase and levitated a brown, leather-bound book onto the desk.

"My Aurors found this book in Malfoy Manor earlier this week, when they scanned the house for Dark Objects. However, no one in our Department has been able to identify how to repel or remove the Dark Magic within this book."

Agent #1729 tapped her chin. "Fascinating, most fascinating," she hummed thoughtfully.

She waved her wand and the book immediately flew into the air, in between the women. The Unspeakable twirled the book a few times, before her eyes caught the faint letters inscribed on the inside of the front cover.

"T. M. Riddle" Agent #1729 read aloud. "This appears to be a Muggle diary. What a curious object to infuse Dark magic into!"

The Unspeakable continued her examination of the diary. An onslaught of identification spells, curse repelling spells, and magic detection spells hit the diary over the next ten minutes.

At last, she had the answer. Agent #1729 nodded to herself, before her lips thinned into a deep frown.

"This is a Horcrux, Amelia. And it gets even worse, it seems as though this is not the only Horcrux this individual made."

* * *

Harry's brain was currently in overdrive as he stared at his godfather right across from him. What was he supposed to say? Should he introduce himself? Well, of course his godfather would know who Harry was, Sirius was his godfather for goodness sake! Should he just start with a simple hello? But that sounds like any other stupid conversation, this was different, he is meeting his godfather -

"Hi Harry," Sirius spoke gently, breaking Harry's rapid yet massive cloud of thoughts. "Wow, the last time I saw you, you were shorter than the length of my arm!"

Harry didn't know what to respond to that, so he just laughed lightly.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Sirius inquired with a grin. "Well, I suppose this is a rather odd situation to be in. I guess I'll start by introducing myself."

"I'm Sirius Black, please call me Sirius. I went to Hogwarts with both your parents - we were all in Gryffindor together, in the same year - and your father was my absolute best friend, my whole life."

"I grew up in the Black family, who was well known for engaging in the Dark arts. I'll just straight up say it - most of my family was vile, disgusting, and evil. Andromeda over there is my cousin, and probably the only sane family member I had at the time. All of my family members went to Slytherin, except myself of course!"

Then, Sirius's eyes grew downcast and weary. "Your father was the greatest friend I could have ever asked for. I escaped my horrendous family when I was 16, and the Potter family accepted me like I was one of their own. I am incredibly grateful to James, and I'm so, so sorry to you and your family for letting you all down. If only I had remained your parents' Secret Keeper, rather than letting that rat be a decoy -"

"Sirius, it's not your fault," Harry finally spoke up, "please don't blame yourself for the death of my parents. Voldemort killed my parents and Peter Pettigrew betrayed them. You've suffered enough for so many years, I'm just glad you're here as a free man now."

A grateful look passed from Sirius to his godson. "I - yes, that is absolutely true. It's just going to take me a long time to accept that and move on, I guess, after that being the only thing on my mind for so many years."

"That's enough about me, I'd like to know about you! I really want to know more about Lily and James' son and what you kiddo have been up to. Do you play Quidditch? Tell me about your friends! Have you lost more than 100 points in one go yet?"

Harry instantly gulped. Sirius's jaw dropped at his guilty look, then loudly guffawed.

"No way, I was just kidding! I need to hear this story. But don't you worry, you're not in trouble with me at all. One time, James and I 'accidentally' lit the Halloween banners in the Great Hall on fire and lost Gryffindor all their points…"

Harry grinned. He had a great feeling that every second spent with Sirius will be a lot of fun.

* * *

"A Horcrux? What the bloody hell is a Horcrux?" Amelia demanded, not having a good feeling about this revelation at all.

"It's not public knowledge," Agent #1729 replied. "A Horcrux is an object that conceals a part of a person's soul. The human essentially splits his or her soul, and keeps the other fragment in an object. That way, if the individual's body is destroyed, they cannot die because one part of their soul lives on."

"Usually, splitting one's soul is painful and awful enough that nobody does it again. But this diary contains only a mere fragment of that person's soul, much less than half a soul! This means that more of their soul exists out there in the world," the Unspeakable finished explaining.

To have worked her way to being the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia has experienced a lot of horrifying, unexpected, and chaotic circumstances. None of them have ever been as messy as this Horcrux business.

"So what do we do now?" Amelia asked with great concern. "Can you destroy this diary? But what about all the other soul fragments?"

"Let me fetch Agent #28 and Agent #314 and we will work on this issue for the next few days," the Unspeakable across Amelia calmly stated, "I have my own suspicions but they might be more well-suited for this and I would need to speak with them first."

* * *

"What do you mean, SIX HORCRUXES?!"

Amelia Bones claimed great pride in her ability to preserve a calm composure at all times - er, almost all times. But this was not one of those moments.

"Let me get this straight," the witch heaved, "some wizard or witch split their soul into six fragments? And put them all in random objects?"

The three Unspeakables sitting across her desk nodded.

"Yes, exactly," Agent #1729 affirmed verbally. "In our past few days of investigation, we have been able to trace the diary's exact magical trace - given that every wizard or witch has an extremely unique soul magical trace - to five other exact spots in Britain."

"And that's not all, " Agent #314 continued his colleague's explanation, "all of these Horcruxes belonged to Tom Marvolo Riddle, who was also the owner of the diary."

Agent #1729 leaned forward. "You may know Tom Riddle better by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," she whispered. "His body may have died years ago, but his soul is very much still alive."

Amelia massaged her temples. This case was unraveling to be a lot more headache-causing than she initially expected, especially since this was only a domino that resulted from the testimony of a house elf. And it was connected to You-Know-Who, no less!

"Forgive my language, but bloody hell! What is your recommendation on how to proceed next?"

Agent #314 unrolled a scroll filled with their notes and diagrams and used his hand to gently flatten it on Amelia's desk.

"The other five objects - well, not necessarily objects actually - have been located already," Agent #28 explained as she pointed to different parts of the notes. "Through the help of past Unspeakables research, we have determined how to destroy four of the objects - a cup, a locket, a diadem, and a ring - and already destructed the Dark magic within those four objects as well as the diary."

Amelia nodded. "That is excellent news, very well done. But what about the fifth object you located?"

All three Unspeakables frowned.

"Well… the problem is, Madame Bones, that the fifth Horcrux isn't a object at all. It's inside another human," Agent #1729 spoke quietly.

A horrified look crossed Amelia's face.

"Who?" Seeing the three Unspeakables grimace even further, everything clicked. "Oh, blast this all, no!"

* * *

"Madame Bones," Ted Tonks greeted with a stunned look on his face. "Please come in! How may I help you today?"

Amelia responded with a weak smile. The last couple weeks has truly been one of the most exhausting periods in her tenure at the DMLE, with one hard hitting revelation after another that she needed to sort out. It took her three days to finally comprehend the full situation behind Riddle's Horcruxes and what exactly to communicate to Harry and the Tonks family.

"Is Mr Potter here today? I'd like to speak with you and your wife too if possible. I am deeply sorry to intrude on your Saturday morning like this."

Ted waved off Amelia's apology. "No worries, I'm sure whatever you have to say must be very important! Please take a seat here, I'll call Harry and Andromeda down."

Amelia pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing around the Tonks household. Soon, she heard footsteps trail into the dining room. Ted was followed by his wife, looking as polished as always, and a young boy with unruly bedhead.

The three of them sat around the table. Harry, in particular, glanced at Amelia with extreme fear.

"Thank you all for taking time to be here right now," Amelia began to speak. "Recently, the DMLE and Unspeakables have dug into something that resulted from Lucius Malfoy's investigation, and what we found has been quite… disturbing."

Andromeda nodded in concern. "I see. How might this pertain to Harry here?"

Amelia pressed her lips together. This was going to be quite difficult to explain.

"Our Aurors found a Dark object in Malfoy's home that was later found to be a Horcrux," Amelia stated. Seeing the three listeners' blank stares, she continued.

"A Horcrux, very briefly, is when a person splits their soul and hides part of it in something outside of his or her own body. The individual must commit a deeply atrocious act of mankind to create a Horcrux - which is why it is truly one of the darkest forms of magic."

"The Unspeakables traced the magic found in that object to five other locations. And one of those locations was right here."

Ted's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I'm really sorry," Amelia continued, "but it appears that this individual has accidentally embedded a Horcrux within Harry. His scar, especially, is our guess."

"My - my scar?" Harry stammered. "How did my scar become a Horcrux?"

Amelia took a deep breath. "These Horcruxes belonged to an individual named Tom Marvolo Riddle, who you might know better by the name he later adapted, Lord Voldemort." Amelia shivered upon saying that name.

Andromeda and Ted gasped in horror. Harry sat upright further, completely in shock.

"That's impossible," Andromeda wheezed. "Another human has inserted a fragment of his soul in Harry? And such a vile human at that?"

Amelia nodded with a deep frown.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. We can only speculate how it got there, especially if it's Harry's scar, but the Unspeakables need to scan Harry to properly confirm this."

Andromeda opened her mouth to speak again, but Harry beat her to it. "I believe you," the young wizard whispered. "This makes a lot of sense. Last year, my scar hurt a lot whenever I was near Quirrell, who was partially Voldemort. So having some connection to Voldemort actually answers a lot of questions about my scar."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Harry.

"You never told us about this," Andromeda scolded, "if you have any more incidents of pain or injury, you must tell us!"

"Yes, yes. But we will talk more about this later, Harry. The important question is, how do we get rid of this awful Horcrux in Harry?" Ted inquired.

* * *

Agent #1729 pointed her wand at various spots of Harry's body. Harry lay still on the table, eyes uncomfortable gazing up at the ceiling. He tried not to flinch every time another colorful beam of light streamed from the Unspeakable's wand.

Finally - by Harry's count, that was a total of 26 spells casted on him - the Unspeakable lowered her wand.

"Our hypothesis was correct," she nodded grimly at Ted, Andromeda, and Amelia. "There is indeed a piece of Tom Riddle's soul embedded in Harry, latching onto the area where his scar has formed."

"His scar is just oozing with dark magic right now." Agent #1729 further waved her wand in a small circle, and an orange light shot out at Harry's scar. "Look!"

All of Harry's forehead glowed green, depicting the dark energy of the hidden Horcrux. Ted shuddered at the revolting sight.

"Alright. I certainly can't say I'm glad to see that there, at all, but good job on the formulation of your hypothesis, Agent," Amelia praised the Unspeakable. "Have you researched how to destroy it?"

The corners of Agent #1729's lips tugged down into a frown, but she nodded nonetheless.

"For all the other Horcrux objects, our team casted Fiendfyre to dismantle them. Fiendfyre is an extremely destructive, violent fire that is hard to control," she explained, "so we definitely cannot use that on Harry."

"Horcruxes need something extraordinarily powerful and destructive to be eradicated. Fiendfyre's one example, basilisk venom is another - though that is much more challenging to retrieve and would kill any human."

"So there are no solutions?" A soft whimper came from the young wizard still lying flat on his back on the examination table.

"There may be one solution. When we thought about basilisk venom, we also considered the natural antidote to the poison - phoenix tears. After all, only something equally or more powerful could fight something as lethal as basilisk venom, right?" Agent #1729 paced around the room, her voice booming louder as she grew more excited.

"Phoenix tears heal injuries of all levels. So pouring a few drops of phoenix tears into Harry's scar should be able to heal him too, and cure him of the foreign soul remnant stuck in there."

The Unspeakable ended her explanation to retrieve a test tube from her cabinet. "And we actually have phoenix tears available!"

"Oh, that's wonderful," Ted, the ever anxious one, breathed a humongous sigh of relief. "Agent, you have no idea how grateful we are for you and your team's research."

She bestowed a small smile in return for his words and proceeded to stand beside the examination table, peering over Harry's panicking face.

"I will admit, Harry, this might hurt," Agent #1729 grimaced apologetically. "This may hurt a lot actually. And the pain might not be brief."

Harry gave a small, hesitant nod, before granting her a more confident nod. "Okay," he whispered. "I'm ready for this. I just want Voldemort out of my head."

The Unspeakable uncapped the test tube. Brushing Harry's hair so she had visible access to his forehead, she tipped the tube and poured three drops of the phoenix tears into his lightning bolt scar.

For a second, Harry stilled. Then his body started to spasm.

His limbs shook violently, resulting in all the adults in the room to take a few steps back. Harry's eyes suddenly fluttered wide open and then quickly shut, the cycle of wild blinking repeating itself.

Then the screaming started.

And, goodness, Andromeda has never heard more horrid, bloodcurling sounds than the cries emitting from Harry's mouth, even though she grew up in a household where torture was encouraged. She had to hold herself back from giving into her instinct of rushing to Harry.

Harry felt like he was about to die.

His entire head felt like it was burning. He could feel the phoenix tears making theirway through his forehead and coursing through his veins, violently battling the dark presence within. His head flopped from left to right and he clenched his teeth to fight the pain. Tears of agony streamed down his face.

Then, as suddenly as it started, his body stilled again.

Harry, completely drained of energy, shut his eyes and passed out.

Agent #1729's mouth fell open as she noticed a faint, eerie cloud of gray spring out of Harry's scar, before it faded away into nothingness.

For the first time in nearly eleven years, Harry possessed ownership over his entire body again, with no other foreign presence in his mind.

* * *

 **Author's note** : This is _by far_ my longest chapter yet, but probably my favorite to write. One more chapter and this fic will come to a close.

Let me know what you thought about this chapter in the reviews!


	10. Chapter 10: Epilogue

Everyone's amazing reviews in response to the last chapter motivated me to get this chapter out quick (in less than a week!). Here is the Epilogue, please enjoy!

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.

* * *

"SURPRISE!"

Harry's jaw dropped. His gaze roamed across the entire spectacle in front of him, trying to devour every detail. A black banner hung across the fireplace, flashing the letters HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY in red and gold.

Harry jumped to the side when he heard two sudden bursts of confetti cannons. Colorful pieces of paper rained from all over the room.

The corners of his lips tugged into a wide grin at the chaotic, lovely sight that greeted him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" Energetic shouts echoed from all areas of the Tonks' living room. Ted beamed at Harry as he rocked in his lovely, navy blue reclining chair. Andromeda and Dora sat near him on the sunny yellow sofa, squashed beside the two elder Weasley parents. The rest of the Weasleys were scattered across the room - Percy ducked in the corner of the room, donning a crooked party hat; Fred and George standing on the opposite side of the room to pull the confetti cannons simultaneously; Ginny and Ron sitting on the carpet, leaning against the bottom of the sofa, both loudly whooping and cheering.

Walking towards the living room was Sirius, carefully carrying a beautiful, delicate red velvet cake. On top of the white frosting, "Happy 12th birthday, Harry!" was adorned in red and gold lettering.

Harry felt as though he was going to burst with happiness.

A surge of emotion welled up in his chest, as he thought back to all the amazing moments he's shared with all his friends and family in the past few weeks.

Harry continued to live with the Tonks family, but he saw Sirius almost every other day. His godfather took him out for amazing adventures and road trips, views he had never even dreamed of seeing. And the Tonks household, of course, was as incredible and considerate as any family could possibly be.

He visited the Weasleys every Saturday. From flying, to playing chess (or, more accurately, watching Ginny and Ron play because Harry got pummeled in every match), to even de-gnoming, Harry enjoyed every minute he spent at the Burrow.

Harry has never felt so … loved and cared for, than at this moment. A dazzling, ebullient grin flickered onto his face, as he bolted farther into the celebration.

* * *

"Good bye, Harry!" Dora, wearing curly, jet black hair to match Harry's today, leaned down and ruffled Harry's messy hair affectionately. "You'll definitely enjoy second year, I'm sure of it!"

"Don't you get into any more trouble this year, young man," Andromeda reminded him, her tone full of warning but no malice. "Be sure to send us letters. Lots of them!"

Sirius chuckled. "Get into all the trouble you want, a boy's gotta have fun!" he exclaimed.

Upon sensing Andromeda's glare, Sirius straightened his face and bent down to Harry's height. "Just make sure you're not caught by Andromeda," he hummed into his godson's ear. Harry smirked.

Unexpectedly, Ted was the most emotional individual out of the group sending Harry off for another school year. Too choked up to talk, he crouched down and buried Harry in a massive hug. "We'll miss you, Harry, very much," he whispered, dabbing his eyes with his handkerchief.

Harry smiled. His heart felt so full and joyous at knowing that he had his own family sending him off to school and awaiting his return for the holidays.

"I'll definitely send letters!" he cheerfully agreed. "Bye everyone!"

Pulling his trunk and carrying Hedwig's cage, he stepped onto the train.

* * *

Already, many of the compartments were filled with excited students. Harry passed one after another until he finally spotted a relatively empty compartment, save for only one person - fortunately, the individual he was looking for.

Harry didn't see Hermione in person in the summer, as she was traveling with her parents, but he did keep up a light correspondence with her by mail. He had ruminated over what to say to her and decided he would address the heavy topics when they physically meet again.

He slid open the door. "Hermione, it's so great to see you again!"

Hermione spun around in shock. "Harry!" she shrieked. "How was your summer?"

"It was _amazing_!" she beamed. "My parents and I went to France together, first visiting -"

Hermione paused her recounting of her holiday break, remembering her currently fragile relationship with Harry. "I, um - Harry, are we still friends?"

Harry pursed his lips, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he tried to articulate his thoughts. "Honestly? There's a lot I want to talk to you about, but I'm not really sure how I should do so."

Hermione decided to speak again.

"Harry, I'm really, really sorry about what I said and how I acted in my letter to you," she blurted out. "I accused you when I had no right and had no understanding of what went on in your life."

"Yes, you did," Harry responded, waiting for her to continue.

"I blindly placed my faith in authoritative figures, something I've been taught to do and I now know is very wrong, especially in trusting Dumbledore over you," she continued her apology. "I'm deeply sorry for all the inconsiderate comments I made. I'm so glad you got out of the Dursleys' abuse, and you look much happier and healthier now than last year."

"Could you…" she trailed off, her volume receding as she rapidly blinked to prevent tears. "Could you please forgive me? I certainly understand if you won't -"

Harry cut off her apologetic rambles with a long hug. Hermione squeaked in surprise, before returning the gesture.

"I forgive you. I was really hurt when you sent me that letter, but I'm glad you understand the situation now," Harry explained. "You're one of my best friends, and you always will be, Hermione!"

A shy grin creeped onto her face. "Thank you, Harry! I promise I will always support you and trust you, over anything anyone else says."

Just in time, Ron and Neville barged into the compartment. Neville was already in his wizard robes, his palm gently cradling his pet toad Trevor.

"Hey guys!" Ron cheerfully grinned, completely oblivious to the heart-to-heart talk Harry and Hermione just conducted. "Scoot over, will you Harry?"

Harry budged to the right. Ron lifted his trunk to the overhead bins and held onto his owl cage.

"When did you get an owl, Ron?" Hermione, observant as always, piped up.

Ron smiled at the reminder of his pet, but then quickly grimaced. "Harry's godfather Sirius gave it to me! As a replacement for losing Scabbers… Not that I'm sad over losing that rat. But Ginny named my owl Pigwidgeon and it refuses to respond to anything else now."

Hermione and Neville dissolved in laughter.

"Pigwidgeon? That's certainly an interesting name," Neville wheezed.

Ron levelled a glare in his direction, before returning his gaze to the cage. "Yeah, well. Can't do anything about it now," he sighed. "I'll just call it Pig, I guess."

Light knocks sounded on the glass compartment doors.

The four second years turned their heads to see Ginny and another young girl, presumably Ginny's friend. She had a head full of long, dirty blonde hair. Her silvery eyes were sharp and inquisitive.

"Hey everyone!" Ginny exclaimed. "Could we join you guys? The rest of the train is full."

Before Ron could open his mouth to protest, Harry gestured inwards with his hand to welcome the two girls in. "Absolutely, we have space!"

Ginny beamed. "Thanks Harry! Everyone, this is my friend Luna Lovegood. She's in my year, also entering Hogwarts."

"Hello," Luna chimed in with a soft, dreamy voice, as she waved to everyone. Neville, who was very curious about this girl, waved back.

Little did they know, the six of them would form close bonds for the rest of their lives. They chattered away for the rest of the train ride, embracing the new beginnings that another magical school year brought.

All was well.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : And that's truly the end for _That's Your Punishment_! This journey has been so crazy, I can't believe it's been two years since I started. I want to thank each and every one of you for reading and supporting this story - this fic definitely would not have turned out this way without you all.

TinyFox2 left a review on my last chapter, saying _"I can't believe how this started from de-gnoming, yet I so can!"_ This is exactly how I feel too. This was supposed to be a oneshot, an experiment into writing fanfic, but has grown much bigger and I've learned so much throughout.

There will be no sequel. I will likely be moving on to writing Star Wars fanfiction as well as Star Wars/Harry Potter crossover fics going forward, if you'd like to follow along! Thank you for reading, please leave a comment to let me know what you thought :)


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